reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-07-08 11:02 pm

magic, madness, heaven, sin

JULY 2022 EVENT
IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: A statue of Lady Justice with her sword against a man's throat. ]
[Image Two: A pair of hands covered in blood. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Two people trying to reach one another being pulled back by multiple, disembodied hands. ]
[Image Two: A feminine figure lying on a boardwalk above the ocean. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A pair of black scales held by a statue. ]
[Image Two: A single hand reaching up from the water, implying drowning. ]

GOOD AND EVIL
WHEN: July
WHERE: All over
CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, revenge, possible torture, possible death, mental manipulation


An excerpt from the book Thus Comes the Reckoning:
Are we inherently good or evil? Are we hard-wired for empathy? Or is violent behavior our innate reaction when the world has done us wrong? This is something that has been debated for centuries, even in the times Before Sodder. Have we evolved since the Dreamless World? Since the Nightmare? Have the Pthumerians and their blessings made us more peaceful and understanding?

While it is true that our world is more generous and caring than the ones we have read about in the Dreamless World, where in spite of our shortages, we want for nothing that we truly need, the very existence of corruption and beasthood should speak of our true natures and of the true natures of Sleepers. There is no time that this is more prominent in our world than in the month of July, when the Reckoning holds sway.

It is unclear if it is the unbearable heat, the Pthumerian's influence, or perhaps just our true selves coming forth, but each July is the prelude to chaos. The pleasantries die off, the generosity wanes, and we forget the lessons of our more kind and gentle benefactors. Fist fights over minor disagreements, people attacking one another with weapons when they don't get their way or wait too long in line, and murders over the loss of a game. Does the summer make monsters of us all? Or does the Beast Moon simply encourage what is already inside of us?

Sleepers will find themselves encouraged towards violence. Many will be drawn to do evil. They will feel a pull to hurt others, particularly those who have hurt them first. Anger will seem like a natural state and many will find that they have lost all ability to reason when they become even minorly frustrated. Vigilante justice will seem like a great idea. Did someone hurt your loved one? Then tear them apart! Did a person borrow something from you and never return it? End them. Criminal activity will skyrocket, particularly violent criminal activity, throughout the month of July. People will feel more inclined to steal, to damage property, to kill, and to get revenge. Torturing others will seem like a perfectly reasonable idea. It is the month to do so and it might even feel good to hurt other people.

Sleepers will also feel violently protective of those they love. They will want to make sure that the violent crimes happening to other people doesn't happen to their people and they might go to such extremes as locking their loved ones up so that nothing can get to them. It's an obsessive need to protect and not let go. Someone might even feel so inclined as to kill their friends just to make sure that no one else can hurt them.

On the flip side, those who manage to resist the violent urges will be more inclined to help those who are violent. Even if you are someone who has never wanted to help another person, you will be drawn to do good. It's not impossible to talk others down, to sway them to being better people and to remembering who they are. It's just a lot of work. But still, those who are impacted by the good will feel that same need to protect others; only for them, it doesn't have to necessarily be someone they know. They want to do the right thing, to protect people from themselves. Unlike the evil, they will know there are limits, and they will not hurt others in their attempt to protect them. But they may end up being willing to, possibly uncharacteristically, sacrifice themselves to do so.

QUICK FACTS: 1. You can only be impacted by The Good or The Evil at one time. Someone who is Good can be corrupted into becoming Evil. If someone is talked down from being Evil, they can either go back to being their normal selves, or they can become impacted by The Good instead. This can happen as many times in the month as possible, but they can only be Good or Evil at one time. You can not be both at once.

2. Characters who can usually heal demons/possessions/etc. can cure Evil in people. Their powers will work the same as they would in their canon/from their blood powers. Game based items that would normally cure corruption however will NOT work to cure Evil. They will still work to cure corruption/beasthood.

3. The Reckoning can still punish you. Just because you're being influenced by outside forces won't matter to her. If she catches you doing something bad and it isn't for revenge purposes, she will punish you as she sees fit. This is left up to player interpretation.

FORTUNE'S FOOL
WHEN: July
WHERE: All over
CONTENT WARNINGS: Star-Crossed lovers, encouraged suicidal ideation, possible death


Love. A complicated feeling that puts people into complicated circumstances. And yet, people will find themselves focused on this emotion more so than usual this month. For someone who is already in love, the emotions will become even stronger, almost overwhelming, wanting to burst out of them like a song. For those who were not in love before, they may find themselves suddenly easily falling for others. Maybe they will love multiple people or maybe just one, but love will be an all consuming emotion to those who fall victim to it.

The only problem is that love isn't always accepted. People who are deeply in love will suddenly start to feel persecuted and judged from those around them. They will feel as though their love is unallowed, that the person that means the most to them is being rejected by their family, their friends, by society itself. It doesn't matter if that's the truth: there's just something inside of people that makes them thoroughly convinced that their love is not meant to be. Star-Crossed. Unattainable.

There will be an increased urge to solidify that love as being real and unbreakable. Maybe this is done through fighting back against those who are saying no. Maybe it comes in the form of secretly saying vows and loved ones spiritually tying themselves together forever. Or maybe in the end, the only true way that lovers feel they can truly be together... is in death. All of these will seem like reasonable options— or maybe even the only option. Love is never ending, after all, even if life is.

QUICK FACTS: 1. Anyone can fall in love with anyone else. It doesn't have to be the character that you're already shipping with if all players agree! You can fall in love with someone you know, someone you've just met, or even a total stranger. Love is a gift to everyone, right??? Who needs pesky things like introductions.

2. You do not have to commit suicide. You can, of course, and many will definitely feel drawn to it with the basis of the prompt, but it is not required. Please make sure to mark all threads accordingly!

3. The persecution against your relationship does not have to be real. You can, however, tie this into the first prompt, and have even the smallest slights be reason to think that your love is persecuted. Similarly, people who are impacted by the first prompt may be more likely to actually shun those who are in love. Feel free to work with it however you see fit!

OUR OWN PRISONS
WHEN: July
WHERE: All over, but particularly by the ocean.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Self-hatred, judgement, suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, possible drowning.


Everyone has personal flaws. Things about themselves they don't like, reactions they wish they didn't have, habits that they want to break. Sometimes the awareness of flaws can outweigh the awareness of our strengths as well. It's easy to get caught up in the feeling that we're less then perfect, that we'll never be able to fix ourselves no matter what we do.

This month, those feelings seem to be amplified. Sleepers will see flaws everywhere; in the people they love, in the Trenchies, and most heavily in themselves. Feelings of self-hatred and judgement will be amplified and even those who are usually confident in themselves will find that they're suffering from it. Sometimes these feelings may manifest as a simple bout of anger and depression; but for others, it can become more severe quickly.

Those who find themselves suffering heaviest from these feelings will feel called to the ocean. Maybe it's a desire to go back to a squid form, a place that's simpler and more straight forward. Or maybe it's the unbearable heat that's putting these thoughts in someone's head and they'll feel like going for a swim would cure it. But there's something inside everyone that knows that if they go into the ocean, they might not come back out again.

Sleepers will feel like the ultimate judgement is waiting for them out there. If they are seeing flaws more in themselves, being by the ocean will amplify feelings of suicide. If they're seeing flaws in everyone else, they might feel compelled to bring those people down to the ocean to drown them. The ocean, associated so heavily with rebirth, could be the very thing to cleanse people of their imperfections, after all. Maybe it would be a favor to everyone if someone just gave in and tried to fix themselves and others. For the good of Trench.

QUICK FACTS: 1. These feelings can cause people to become more corrupt. The longer they are exposed to these feelings, the closer they will get to high levels of corruption, and eventual beasthood.

2. Because these feelings can cause corruption, they can also be relieved through the same methods as corruption. Talking, touching, Moon Drops, get some therapy, whatever the player chooses.

3. People who do not address their feelings and/or who spend too much time by the ocean will inevitably deal with feelings of suicide and/or homicide. Please be sure to handle these topics appropriately and content warn your threads.

CODING
thisislife: (says he's gonna teach me just what fast)

[personal profile] thisislife 2022-08-25 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[she already hadn't liked it at the mouth of the catacombs where her thoughts had been forced to run amok, all so very negative that she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to push herself forward. but a kind man had offered tea and conversation and slowly, she'd managed to get her thoughts back in order.

where she's from, coming out is mostly a thing done so that family knew where a person stood. with her peers, none of them would really care either way.

Lexi had never been in a situation where a person liked her back home other than one disastrous date in ninth grade. so it had never really come up]

Okay. Okay. I think I'm a born worrier, that's part of my problem. And then, as things in high school kept not really getting any better, I sort of hid within my own mind and tried to be anywhere other than where I was at the time. Or I'd think of it as a movie, one I could call cut on at any time. But it didn't really work that way. [and her gaze softens] I know you will. And I'll do my best to be helped with the whole talking thing.

Pretty sure I can? Even though I might be kinda blushy at first.
imaglyphwitch: (soft smile)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-25 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Luz had one of those days too: never a good time, in her opinion. She'd have to remember the name of the man who had helped Lexi out so she could thank him properly. She'd had people help her out in those situations too.

In that case, Luz was fine: she was pretty sure both of her moms (well, THREE really) knew where she stood there.

Similarly, the one time Luz had liked someone and tried to be romantic about it, it had gone so badly most of the school reminded her of how corny she was. It had really sort of colored her whole idea of being unable to be liked for a long time].

It never really does. I know what that's like though, to feel like you're just sort of playing a part, but yeah, it's...way more complicated. I'm not saying you shouldn't worry, especially about a place like this. I am saying that I'll be here, to help you when you need me. I'll lighten your load.

I guess we'll just have to see then, won't we?


thisislife: (screaming "get us while we're hot get)

[personal profile] thisislife 2022-08-25 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[honestly? Lexi was pretty sure he wasn't there anymore. she'd stopped by where she thought he was living with a coffee cake and no one answered the door. she wonders what will happen to her the next time, when Trench dug into her mind and pulled all of the bad out.

she wondered what Suze would think. she knew her mom would like Luz, especially seeing how happy Luz made Lexi, but she would also never. let. Lexi. hear the end of it. teasing 24/7 and Lexi trying to hide wine bottles every time Luz was supposed to come over.

and Lexi had been so used to nursing a secret, hopeless crush on Rue who barely seemed able to speak to her anymore, viewing the world through a drug-addled haze. Lexi knew that wasn't healthy, but she hadn't been able to fully kick the habit until here]

...I know you will. I trust you. And you know this road goes two ways, right? Whenever you need it, for whatever reason you need it I'll be there for you.

Seems that way. Should be interesting!
imaglyphwitch: (i gots plans)

[personal profile] imaglyphwitch 2022-08-26 07:35 am (UTC)(link)
[Aw, that was a shame. Maybe they'd be able to meet again someday. She wasn't sure how, of course, but she figured that there had to be some kind of way to do it.

Luz knew her mother would be very pleased that Lexi was so sensible, less pleased about the cursing (she was a mom after all) and all the more willing to hope that the two of them would be able to help each other grow a little bit and help each other out when they needed to.

Luz would at least be glad to show Lexi what a relationship was like where she devoted her care to Lexi and was able to show her that a less one-sided relationship was a good thing]!

Good. So we agree: we'll be there for each other when we can!

Oh, it will be. It WILL be.